This edited volume seeks to systematically describe the emergence and form of the epidemics (epidemiology), the social, community and political response, and the various measures to confront and control the epidemic, with varying levels of success. Of particular importance are strategies that appear to have been useful in ameliorating the epidemic, while contrasting the situation in a neighboring country or region where contrasting prevention or care initiatives have had a deleterious outcome. Common to all responses has been the international multi-sectoral response represented by the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and the Gates Foundation, among others, to promote HIV pharmacologic therapy in resource-poor settings. The chapter authors will explore the political challenges in meeting HIV/AIDS prevention and care in concert with the public health realities in specific country and regional context.
David D. Celentano is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Director of the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research integrates behavioral science theory and research with epidemiology, in the study of behavioral and social epidemiology. Celentano is the Principal Investigator of four NIH-supported studies in Thailand, focusing on interventions to influence the association between opiate use, methamphetamine use, and other drugs on HIV.
Chris Beyrer is Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also the Founder and Director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins. He is a co-editor of Public Health and Human Rights: Evidence-Based Approaches, to be published in 2006 by Johns Hopkins University Press.